Cables Obtained by WikiLeaks Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels  —  WASHINGTON — A cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the past three years, provides an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world …

Presidential historian curses, calls Americans ‘lazy and obese’  —  Presidential biographer Edmund Morris delivered one of the more, well, colorful lines on this week's Sunday morning shows.  —  On CBS's “Face the Nation,” host Bob Schieffer, anchoring an authors roundtable discussion …

The FBI successfully thwarts its own Terrorist plot  —  The FBI is obviously quite pleased with itself over its arrest of a 19-year-old Somali-American, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who — with months of encouragement, support and money from the FBI's own undercover agents — allegedly attempted …

US embassy cables: Saudi king's advice for Barack Obama  —  NSC FOR JBRENNAN AND JDUNCAN; STATE FOR S/WCI  —  Classified By: Pol Counselor Lisa Carle, 1.4(b),(d)  — (S) Saudi King Abdullah welcomed White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, S/WCI Ambassador Williamson …

A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web  —  SHOPPING online in late July, Clarabelle Rodriguez typed the name of her favorite eyeglass brand into Google's search bar.  —  In moments, she found the perfect frames — made by a French company called Lafont — on a Web site that looked snazzy and stood at the top of the search results.

The Country's Wealthiest Men: No, Really, Tax Us More!  —  Not that this will matter to the congressional Republicans, whose agenda is not actually improving the economy nor listening to economists, the wealthiest 2%, or any other American, come to that.  But the country's wealthiest men …

Got to Get This Right  —  On Nov. 19, Rasmussen Reports published results from a national telephone poll that showed that 47 percent of America's likely voters said the nation's “best days are in the past,” 37 percent said they are in the future.  Sixteen percent were undecided.

Why the TSA pat-downs and body scans are unconstitutional  —  The protest on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was called National Opt-Out Day, and its organizers urged air travelers to refuse the Transportation Security Administration's full-body scanning machines.  —  But many appeared to have opted out of opting out.

Fire was intentionally set at Islamic Center in Corvallis where alleged bomb plot suspect attended  —  A fire reported early this morning at the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis where Portland bomb plot suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud sometimes attended is being called arson.

Our puritanical progressives  —  An eminent Harvard law professor, James Thayer (1831-1902), argued that although the judicial function is “merely that of fixing the outside border of reasonable legislative action,” this still gives courts “a great and stately jurisdiction.”